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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 586/10/2429    most recent jphysiol.2008.152207v1 Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Dale, N. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dale, N. Related Collections Review articles Neuroscience

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK

Purinergic signalling plays a major role in the function of every organ including the brain. A growing body of evidence also suggests that purinergic signalling is important in the development of the retina, cochlea and neocortex. In these three contexts release of ATP through the spontaneous gating of connexin hemichannels in cells, respectively, of the retinal pigment epithelium, Köllicker's organ, and the radial glia triggers waves of intracellular Ca²⁺ release. In the case of the developing retina and cortex, the released ATP acts to control proliferation of neuronal precursor cells, while in the cochlea it coordinates the spontaneous activity of adjacent hair cells to refine the tonotopic maps in the cochlear nucleus. Recently ATP-derived ADP signalling has been implicated at the very earliest stages of development, notably in triggering the gene expression necessary for formation of the eye. It is now timely to test the extent to which connexin hemichannel-mediated ATP release and accompanying Ca²⁺ waves contribute to all stages of development.

(Received 6 February 2008; accepted after revision 18 March 2008; first published online 20 March 2008)
Corresponding author N. Dale: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. Email: n.e.dale{at}warwick.ac.uk